Touch Trivia Quiz

Answer: U Can't Touch This

That's right it is Hammer Time, MC Hammer Time (real name Stanley Kirk Burrell). In 1990, Hammer, who got his nickname as a youngster serving as a batboy for the American baseball's Oakland Athletics, released the infectious "U Can't Touch This". The song became Hammer's signature anthem and established MC Hammer as one of the top Rap performers of the 1990s.

Unfortunately for Hammer, life after "U Can't Touch This" was not so sweet. Hammer was sued for copyright infringement by fellow rapper Rick James for "sampling" James' 1981 song "Super Freak". Hammer settled with James by giving him co-composer credit. Despite earning millions, MC Hammer was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1996.

Answer: Diana Ross

"Touch Me in the Morning" was the second solo US Hot 100 number one single for Diana Ross. Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and later Cynthia Birdsong recorded 12 number one hits as The Supremes during the 1960s. Ross left the group in 1970 for a solo music and acting career. Ross' first solo effort in 1970 included the unforgettable single "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". In 1972, Ross was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as the tragic jazz era chanteuse, Billie Holiday.

"Touch Me in the Morning" was written by Michael Masser and Ron Miller. The song is a lament about the fleeting embers at the end of a love affair. The song was the first hit for composer Masser. Masser went onto become one of the most successful composers of the 1970s and 1980s writing hits for Ross, Whitney Houston and Peebo Bryson amongst others.

Answer: Touch of Grey

Prior to the release of "Touch of Grey ", 1970's "Truckin" was the Grateful Dead's highest charting song at number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Touch of Grey" was written by Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia and long time Dead lyricist Robert Hunter around 1980. Starting in 1982, the Dead performed the song at concerts. "Touch of Grey" was the only song the Grateful Dead made a music video to support. The video featured the Dead's members as skeleton marionettes playing before a live audience. In true Grateful Dead fashion, once the song became a commercial success the band stopped featuring it in live concerts.

In addition to being one of the most recorded guitarists in rock history, Jerry Garcia was also an accomplished artist. His imaginative paintings were sold at major art galleries and later were the basis for a successful line of men's neckties.

Answer: Mariah Carey

"Touch My Body" was written by Mariah Carey and became her 18th US Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping song. Released as part of Carey's album "E=MC2", "Touch My Body" suggestively riffed on the obvious sexual innuendo, but also played as a warning to her fictional lover not to tape or disclose their relationship. The video accompanying the song featured a "computer nerd" played by "30 Rock" star Jack McBrayer (Kenneth Parcell) fantasizing about a romance with the seductive Ms. Carey. The video was directed by Brett Ratner, who amongst other projects directed the "Rush Hour" movies and 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand".

To most people E=MC2 refers to Albert Einstein's 1905 theory on mass-energy equivalence. However in the Mariah Carey context, the album's name referred to the 2008 album being a sequel of sorts to Carey's multi-platinum 2005 album "The Emancipation of Mimi".

Answer: Hall & Oates

The dark mustachioed John Oates and tall blonde Daryl Hall formed one of the most powerful music partnerships of the 1970s and 1980s. The duo released 12 albums that each sold at least 500,000 units. "Out of Touch" was from the duo's 1984 double platinum album "Big Bang Boom". "Out of Touch", according to Daryl Hall, is a love song that explores the need to remain true to your own soul.

In 2014, Hall & Oates joined Nirvana, Kiss, Linda Ronstadt, Peter Gabriel, The E Street Band and Cat Stevens as inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Answer: Sometimes When We Touch

According to singer-songwriter Dan Hill, he penned "Sometimes When We Touch" to impress a free-spirited older lover when he was 19 years old. In response to the intense ballad, the erstwhile object of Dan's affection told him to chill out and left town with a Canadian Football Player. Hill got the last laugh when he recorded the song for his 1977 album "Longer Fuse".

"Sometimes When We Touch" is also frequently included in lists of the most overplayed rock era songs. The song also made the 2010 AOL Radio's Worst Songs Ever list at number 40. Despite the backlash, "Sometimes When We Touch" remains a popular song for covers. Perhaps my favorite version of the song is the 2011 collaboration of Dan Hill with boxing great and Philippines politician Manny Pacquiao.

Answer: Genesis

For all their success Genesis had only one song reach the top of the US charts, 1986's "Invisible Touch". The song was written by drummer and lead singer Phil Collins and is the title song to the group's massively popular thirteenth studio album. In an odd twist in July 1986, "Invisible Touch" was replaced as the top song on the US Billboard Hot 100 by "Sledgehammer" performed by former Genesis lead singer Peter Gabriel.

Also included on the "Invisible Touch" album is my personal favorite Genesis song "Land of Confusion". The classic video to this song features puppets from the popular UK television show "Splitting Image", including an image of then US President Ronald Reagan clumsily starting a nuclear war.

Answer: Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin

"Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin" appears on Journey's fifth album 1979's "Evolution". The single was Journey's first top 20 US Billboard Hot 100 hit reaching number 16. The song was used as part of the first episode of US television's "Glee" introducing the song to a new generation and reviving its popularity. "Lovin Touchin, Squeezin" also requires the singer to repeat the word "na-na" over 150 times.

Journey's success was due in large part to the distinctive voice of lead singer Steve Perry. In 1998, Perry left the band and was replaced by a series of sound-a-like singers. In 2007 Journey hired Arnel Pineda from the Philippines to be their lead singer after seeing him perform in a cover band on the video site "YouTube".

Answer: Objection from CBS television censors

Doors guitarist and songwriter Robby Kreiger originally titled his song "Hit Me", but the band changed the lyric to "Touch Me" sometime before it was released in 1968. Depending on the source, the reason for the change in lyrics was either concern over making the tune a challenge for rowdy fans to rush the stage and "hit" leader singer Jim Morrison; a fear of being connected to an argument between Kreiger and his girlfriend ending in violence; or, as a reference to taking a "hit" (an additional card) in the casino gambling game of Blackjack.

While the title to "Touch Me" was not changed because of censor's concerns before being played on television, the Doors were no strangers to censorship controversy. In 1967, The Doors appeared on the immensely popular "The Ed Sullivan Show" to perform their hit song "Light My Fire". The band was asked to change a lyric in the song from "girl we couldn't get much higher" to "much better". Allegedly CBS network executives were concerned that the song endorsed drug use. Accounts differ as to whether The Doors agreed to the change or not, but the live broadcast contained the unaltered original lyrics. Consequently, The Doors never appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" again.

Answer: I Touch Myself

The Divinyls were fronted by the vocals of Chrissy Amphlett and the lead guitar of Mark McEntee. The song "I Touch Myself" was written by Amphlett and McEntee along with Bill Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Kelly and Steinberg wrote a number of popular songs for female singers including Madonna's "Like A Virgin" and Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors". "I Touch Myself" appeared on the Divinyls' self-titled 1991 album and was their only hit in the US, as well as an ARIA number one in their native Australia.

"I Touch Myself" has taken on a deeper meaning in recent years. Divinyls singer Chrissy Amphlett contracted breast cancer in 2010 and succumbed to the disease on April 21, 2013. In tribute to Amphlett, a group of Australia's top female singers, including Olivia Newton John, formed the "I Touch Myself " project to promote breast cancer awareness and self examination by Australian women.